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“I don’t care, but your sister does. For her sake, you should think about cleaning up your act.”
Before Cody irritated Max any more, Ava tapped his water glass. “Tell me about the break-in. Was anything stolen?”
“Not that I could tell, but then, I don’t have much stuff. I had my phone with me. I have a roommate and none of his stuff was taken either. The place was tossed. That’s why I figured it might be the cops.”
“The cops are going to break into your place without a search warrant and go through your stuff?” Max shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
“You sure you’re not a cop?”
“I’m sure, but I don’t think the police operate that way.”
Cody snorted. “You don’t know the cops like I do.”
“I’m sure nobody knows the cops like you do, Cody.” Ava rolled her eyes. “How soon are you going to know about the lab?”
“Today.” Cody scratched his beard. “He’ll want to be paid. You good for that?”
“I am, but he’d better not try to gouge me.” Max’s voice had rolled into a growl.
“He won’t, he won’t. He’s a good guy.”
Ava made a noise in the back of her throat and her brother had the grace to turn red.
“I mean, for a guy who cooks meth.”
Ava waved her hand in the air for the waitress. “Don’t come to our hotel to see us. Give me a call on that number when you have something.”
Max added, “And watch your back.”
Cody’s hand collided with his water glass. “Why do I need to watch my back?”
“Someone broke into your place, right?” Max lifted one shoulder. “I don’t think it was the cops.”
“Are you telling me that break-in had something to do with this lab business?”
Ava reached across the table and encircled Cody’s wrist with her fingers. “Maybe. Just do me a favor and be careful.”
“You too, Ava.” He grabbed her hand. “You deserve to be happy. And safe—you’ve never been safe.”
She slid a glance to Max tossing some bills on the check tray and whispered, “I’m safe now.”
Max handed the money to the waitress. “Cody, can you get back to your place from here?”
“I get it. You don’t want us to be seen together.” He winked. “Done deal, man. Ava, I’ll be in touch.”
He leaned across the table and tugged her hair, and then he scooted out of the booth.
Max slumped in his seat. “He’s a character. You two are nothing alike, except...”
“Except what?”
“Hard to explain.” His hands formed a circle. “A certain naiveté about the world, I guess.”
“I’m not naive anymore, Max. I’ve seen too much.”
“Sure you are, and that’s part of your charm. You’re able to hold on to the good even among waves of bad. It’s a gift.”
“You don’t have to dress it up.”
“I’m not.” He tapped the table. “Let’s get back to the hotel. I was looking at the spa services, and a massage sounds pretty good about now, doesn’t it?”
“Sounds like heaven.”
He opened the door for her and they stepped onto the sidewalk.
Max stopped in front of a kiosk and grabbed a local paper, perusing the front page while Ava scanned the notices pinned to the bulletin board.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a man pivot suddenly and hunch forward to look in a shop window.
As she studied his profile, beneath the baseball cap pulled low over his forehead, her heart jumped. She grabbed Max’s wrist. “I recognize that man to your left in front of the T-shirt shop.”
Max didn’t move a muscle, but his frame stiffened. “Who is he?”
“He’s a Tempest agent.”
Chapter Twelve
Max didn’t turn around despite the adrenaline pumping through his veins—the adrenaline and the T-101, but that Tempest agent shopping for T-shirts would have even more T-101 pumping through his veins.
He dug into his pocket and pulled out some change and a pen. He shoved the coins in the slot for the paper and put his lips close to Ava’s ear. “Take this pen. We’re going to split up, so I can draw him away from you. If he comes after you and he gets close, flip off the lid to this pen and jab him. It’s not ink... It’s poison.”
